1982, Jefferson County, Washington
I was hunting late Elk (doe) up in the Olympic National Forest in late Oct or early Nov. I was hunting alone on an old logging road I’d picked because it went into the mountains the farthest. Due to my job (ARMY), I arrived late, just before sundown just as a couple were hauling up the last piece of an elk doe his wife had shot that morning. He was still cussing her because she watched it cross the road in front of her and waited until it got to the bottom of the ravine before shooting it. Well they left and I spent the night in my truck.
All night it snowed lightly, which is great for tracking. I was parked at the end of NFR 2433, I arose before dawn and just stayed in the back of the truck, I had a clear view down the road for about half a mile. I hadn’t seen anything all AM when suddenly I saw what I thought was another hunter step out into the open on a curve in the road about 1000′ away. He/it looked at me, walked to the edge of the road overlooking a 500′ drop to the valley floor & it just froze there, it looked like it was scanning for game. All I could see besides its outline was its head occasionally scanning.
What struck me odd about him at first was no sign of a rifle, he was all black, and very big, even at the distance we were apart. There being know one else around I figured he’d walk over to me & BS for a while, but he just stood there motionless for a couple of hours! I was starting to creep me out the more I watched him, because I started noticing little things like I could see no signs of a weapon, no bright orange hunting colors or anything that I could differentiate as clothing. I consider it inappropriate to point a high powered rifle w/scope at someone, so I never scoped it out.
As there was nothing else to see, I watched him for several hours, and seemingly he never moved! Finally he took one giant step over the edge going down into the canyon. Its this move that caught my eye, I figured he was going to just sit on a boulder down there. At this time I still thought it was another hunter. I figured what the hell, I’ll offer him a cup of coffee so I walked slowly down there. When I got to where he went over the edge, there was nothing there. That is when the hair stood up on the back of my neck & I started looking for tracks. The corner he had been was in the sun & all the snow had melted, but only a few yards away, to the south the road was still in the shade, NOT ONE SINGLE TRACK!! That meant it could only have come out of the deep woods as there was still an unbroken blanket of snow further down the road. The only way he could have got there was down the mountain. And that meant it wasn’t a man.
This really creeped me out, I very cautiously crept back to my truck & left the area. Never went back.
I now know what I saw was a Squatch, not a man. I wonder to this day if the smell of the slaughtered elk doe from the day before may have attracted him.
joel v
SUCH A GREAT STORY!! I RAN INTO 3 ELK HUNTERS UP AT THE BLUE LAKE TRAIL HEAD AT MT ST HELENS WHERE I HAD ONE OF MY ENCOUNTERS AND I DROPPED THE QUESTION!! HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A SASQUATCH OR HAD ANYTHING UNUSUAL HAPPEN,WELL TWO OF THE GUYS SIAD NO BUT THEY SAID YOU SHOULD TALK TO THIS GUY,THEY POINTED TO THIS OLDER GENTELMAN THAT WAS WALKING UP FROM ANOTHER PARKED TRUCK. I ASK HIM THE SAME QUESTION AND HE REPLIED YES. SAID HE WAS GROWLED AT BY SOMETHING ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE WASHOUT ON THE TRAIL UP TO BLUE LAKE. HE BASICALLY SAID HE HAS BEEN HUNTING IN THAT AREA FOR OVER 30 YEARS AND NEVER HEARD ANYTHING WITH SUCH MASSIVE LUNG CAPACITY AS TO WHAT COULD HAVE MADE A GROWL LIKE THAT. SAID IT COULD ONLY HAVE BEEN ONE OF THESE CREATURES. I TOLD THEM MY STORY WHICH WAS VERY SIMILAR. ME AND A FREIND WENT EXPLORING NEAR BLUE LAKE AND IT WAS EARLY MORNING, WE BOTH GOT OUT OF THE CAR AND WALKED TO THE TRAILHEAD AND WALKED UP THE WASHOUT FOR 30 FEET OR SO. THIS IS WHEN WE WERE GROWLED AT BY ONE OF THESE GIANTS WITH SUCH A FORCE THAT IT ALMOST KNOCKED US OVER, IT FELT LIKE IT WAS 5 FEET FROM US AND LOUD AND GUTTERAL AS ALL HELL. IT FELT LIKE A BASS DRUM HITTING US. WE BOTH FROZE LOOKED AT EACH OTHER AND I SAID WHAT THE FUCK!!! OUR EYES WERE WIDE AND OUR ATTENTION WAS ON THE WOODS RIGHT OF THE SIGN. NOTHING TO BE SEEN, THE REST OF THE AREA IS SPARSE TREES AND WASHOUT WITH A COUPLE LARGE BOULDERS.-LIKE I SAID IT FELT LIKE IT WAS RIGHT ON TOP OF US!!!! IT WAS SCARY,BUT I WAS EXCITED CAUSE I KNEW ONLY ONE CREATURE COULD HAVE MADE A GROWL LIKE THAT!!!! MY FREIND THOUGHT THE SAME THING AND SAID THAT COULD BE ONLY ONE THING!! HE WAS PRETTY SCEPTICAL OF MY KNOWING OF THE EXISTENCE OF THESE CREATURES, ESPECIALLY WITH THE APE CAVE INCIDENT IN 1924. THESE CREATURES ARE STILL THERE!!! IVE HAD A FEW OTHER SASQUATCH ENCOUNTERS AS WELL. I KNOW WITH MY LOVE OF THE SUBJECT AND BY GETTING OFF TRAIL AND EXPLORING THAT I WILL HAVE MANY MORE!!
Paul M
Good incounters. Them growls are almost pants pissers. My brother was hunting northern MN. and was going to his stand before day light when he got the GROWL from HELL. not to funny when tour alone in the woods.
Joyce N
Lol@pants pissers..That’s hilarious. I love the colorful people here. It makes this site so down to earth.
Mark T
Not that I would ever question another person’s sasquatch encounter…
But I do have an issue or two with the statement…
1) A female elk is called a cow, not a doe (female deer).
2) Experienced hunters know that is illegal for hunters to show an animal crossing the road.
3) No binoculars? I agree with not scoping someone, but how was this hunter spotting animals in the first place?
Also, it stood there for hours? I suppose, but it just doesn’t seem to fit the norm.
Mark T
Not that I would ever question another person’s sasquatch encounter…
But I do have an issue or two with the statement…
1) A female elk is called a cow, not a doe (female deer).
2) Experienced hunters know that is illegal for hunters to shoot an animal crossing the road.
3) No binoculars? I agree with not scoping someone, but how was this hunter spotting animals in the first place?
Also, it stood there for hours? I suppose, but it just doesn’t seem to fit the norm.
Joyce N
How many times you gonna post this? Ok, ok, we get it..You’re elk master hunter of the universe so that makes this person’s story invalid due to incorrect terminology. Get a grip, peanut. I work in the medical field..If you came in and filled out your paperwork and misspelled some medications or used the wrong terminology for a surgery you had, it doesn’t you’re lying about what meds you take or you didn’t have that surgery because you couldn’t spell it. It’s not a big deal unless you have a ginormous ego. Think about that. I’d never think to make a patient out to be a liar over trivial details. I’d call them over in private and ask them what they meant. If they got embarrassed, I’d tell them, it’s no big deal, I know nurses who can’t spell them..They look them up..or they ask me..but they’re still great nurses regardless. The goal isn’t to belittle..It’s to get the facts. Pick your battles wisely, some aren’t worth the trouble.
SantiamLady
Well said, Joyce! ???????? Bravo! ????
Janetta V
All in favor of Joyce T. Say I. I. I. I. I. I.I. I. THE I’S. HAVE IT. Three strikes Mark T.
Janetta V
SORRY, I meant Joyce N.
SantiamLady
Details, details…… All that matters is what he saw, not how knowledgable he is about elk hunting. I find his story credible. ???????? It is widely believed that Sasquatches are ambush predators. It figures that would require a lot of patience. It probably was brought in by the elk blood, and being still, patiently eyeballing the canyon below for anything worth climbing down there for.
It must have spotted something, as it made its way down there in the end. ????????
Robert W
Wow can you get him on the show?
Ted G
A out 2 years ago around this same time of year I had something growl a deep rumbling base growl when I was gathering firewood from a pile I had left earlier in the year. I was on the backside of our property in a small field along the edge of a large track of woods. It was late in the evening and snow was in the forecast so I needed to bring in the rest of the firewood before it got buried in snow. I had been hauling most of the day and had one last load to haul to finish up that pile. It was an overcast sky with no moon so it was very dark. I have extra work lights on my tractor that light up around it very well. It just started snowing and as I was throwing the last piece of wood on the wagon when there was a very loud crack of wood snapping. The sound reminded me of when you ate splitting larger chunks of a very hard wood from a tree that has a tremendous twist to it. As the hydraulic splitter forces it’s way in the pressure builds up and then POP the piece splits with a loud popping noise. I turned around and looked towards where the sound came from but could only see to the edge of the light my tractor was putting out. For some reason I took two steps forward, I guess I was curious as to what mace the sound. As I took l the second step I froze, the hair on the back of my neck stood up and this long low very deep base sounding growl started to eminate from th he direction of the popping sound. It started almost softly but then kept increasing in intensity. I remember thinking this should have stopped by now but whatever was major toss unbelievably deep growl had some huge lung capacity.i immediately turned on my heel mounted the tractor and headed for home glancing behind me all the way. Even though it snowed all night I went back the next day to look for tracks for any evidence as to what made the popping sound and the growl but to no avail. We had a foot of new snow now covering everything. I tried listening to different animal growls on the Web but didn’t find anything that matched what I heard. There is nothing worse then trying to flee the scene on a tractor pulling a large wagon load of wood. I was not so much as fleeing as I was crawling slowly away. I did not unload the wood. I parked it jumped off the tractor and got inside the house. I have never seen nor have I heard of anyone encountering any evidence of sasquatch in this area.